Red-125

Sage femme (2017) is a French film written and directed by Martin Prevost.

Catherine Deneuve stars as Béatrice Sobo, an elegant woman who seeks out the daughter of her former lover.

Catherine Frot portrays Claire Breton, the daughter, who is a dedicated midwife. Unfortunately, in her city, midwifery is changing from a personal attachment of mother and midwife to a "big box" one-size-fits-all institution.

One plot line is how Claire will deal with this situation. The other plot line is, of course, how Claire and Béatrice will interact in this confrontation, made even more difficult because Béatrice is ill.

Deneuve was 74 when this film was produced, but she looks much younger. However, it's not her beauty that impressed me, but the fact that she can really act. Frot matches her skills, and their interaction is very powerful.

Midwife has a pretty anemic IMDb rating of 6.7. I'm not sure of why the rating is so low. I loved the movie, and rated it 9.

The Company You Keep (2012) was directed by Robert Redford, who also starred.

Redford plays Jim Grant, a former member of The Weather Underground, the militant Marxist group that opposed the War against Vietnam. He's charged with driving the getaway car in a bank robbery in which a guard was killed. In fact, we learn that it was his car, but he didn't participate in the event.

Shia LaBeouf plays Ben Shepard, a local reporter who follows the case and starts to make connections.

I was an antiwar activist, but a nonviolent one. I never knew anyone who knew anyone in The Weather Underground. In fact, many of us felt that The Weather Underground did more harm than good to the antiwar movement.

Nonetheless, I can empathize with the immense frustration of everyone in the antiwar movement as the war dragged on and on.

Redford does his usual excellent job as the aging activist. I think LaBeouf was miscast. He was 26 when the movie was produced, and he looked more like a boy reporter than a skilled journalist who was ahead of the FBI in understanding what was happening.

This movie has a really weak IMDB rating of 6.4. I thought that it was much better than that, and rated it 8.

Say Anything (1989) was written and directed by Cameron Crowe.

John Cusack plays Lloyd Dobler, a high school graduate who plans to be a professional kickboxer. He's madly in love with Diane Court (Ione Skye).

Naturally, they get together and the chemistry is there. Also naturally, Diane's father has high hopes for his daughter's academic career. He doesn't think much of kickboxing as a profession for a future son-in-law.

(OK--I also don't think much of kickboxing as a profession. I looked up the data, and good professional kickboxers make a decent living. Kickboxing coaches can earn enough to survive.)

The problem I had was that John Cusack doesn't strike me as a person who could become a kickboxer. He's big enough, but he's portrayed as relatively gentle, not aggressive. I don't think his character has the mental toughness for a combat sport.

The movie has a quiet charm to it, and it has aged pretty well. Say Anything . . . Has a pretty strong IMDB rating of 7.3. I agreed, and rated it 7.